Canada's War on Drugs

Peirre Lemieux at the Western Standard has written a piece criticising the government for their tough of marijuana policy. I strongly believe in the state's responsibility to keep peace in society. This sort of law, however, does nothing but make war on the 45% of Canadians that have tried marijuana.

The liberticidal 'war on drugs

Bill C-15, imposing mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related "crimes", passed on third reading. Expect to lose more of your liberty.

Pierre Lemieux - June 12, 2009

You believe that mind-altering drugs are not conducive to the good life and cause broken lives (instead of being the consequence of them), that individuals who consume them are not always the most endearing representatives of mankind, and that your own children should stay away from drugs?

Even if you believe all this, you should strongly disagree with Bill C-15, adopted in third reading by the House of Commons on June 8. The new law will, among other repressive measures, impose minimum jail sentences to anybody convicted of trafficking marihuana or producing whatever small quantity of it for the purpose of trafficking.

More generally, even if you believe everything in the first paragraph, you should oppose the so-called "war on drugs". The Economist, the famous British magazine which combines an incestuous attachment to the establishment with a genuine concern for (some of) our liberties, has criticized the war on drugs for two decades. “By any sensible measure”, they wrote in a recent issue (May 5th, 2009), “this 100-year struggle has been illiberal, murderous and pointless. That is why The Economist continues to believe that the least bad policy is to legalise drugs.” Even the new U.S. “drug czar” expressed some doubts about the all-out war on drugs which the U.S. government has exported and imposed all over the world.

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